


Monster

by ariddletobesolved



Series: Helsa Week 2020 [1]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Angst, Evil!Elsa, F/M, Good!Hans, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24859771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariddletobesolved/pseuds/ariddletobesolved
Summary: Elsa was expecting him to come and attack her, but his emerald gaze that caught her cold blue ones told her that it was never his intention. One thought remained. Have I gone for his heart?Character swap AU: Good!Hans, Evil!Elsa.For Helsa Week 2020, Day 1: Swap.
Relationships: Elsa/Hans (Disney)
Series: Helsa Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799497
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Monster

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Helsa Week everyone! A little note regarding this one shot: it is something like a tie-in to Coming of Age, a one shot about Hans and his loving family. Originally has a fluffy ending, but since it's a character swap AU, I decided to go for Evil Elsa. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Winter Solstice. It was Hans' least favourite time of the year. As a child of autumn, he preferred the breeze and the warm sun, not heavy snow and cold winter wind. But it might have anything to do with his love for the sea, for in weather like this, he obviously could not go sailing.

Arendelle's winter was nothing like the one in his home. It was freezing cold, and sometimes, Hans swore that the temperature was abnormal. Then again, it was his first time experiencing the season on that foreign land. Or maybe, it also had something to do with a certain princess, who had been giving him a cold shoulder.

The birthday girl, Hans thought, looked rather dashing in her blue evening gown with purple floral embroidery. Her hair, almost matching with the colour of the snow, was up in a neat bun, as she stood regally with her gloved hands folded before her lap. There was no denying that Princess Elsa of Arendelle was beautiful, but Hans couldn't shake the strange cold sensation that ran through him every time he caught her glare.

 _'Yeah, well, my sister is always like that.'_ He recalled Princess Anna's words from the other day. _'She is so closed off, oh, and sensitive to the touch too! I was once accidentally grabbing her arm, so that I won't trip, and she flinched. Elsa went angry, scolding me as if I did something wrong, while all I did was grabbing her arm.'_

Hans frowned upon the revelation. _'So, she has always been acting like that all of her life?'_

Anna shook her head. _'No! We used to be so close, until one day, Father and Mother forced her to move to her own room.'_

_'Forced?'_

_'Uh-huh.'_ Anna hummed. _'I still remember how she was screaming and kicking when the guards took her. The next thing I know, Father shut Arendelle from the world.'_ Once she finished, her turquoise eyes widened. _'Oh, no, please don't tell Elsa! She wouldn't like it if anyone found out about that part.'_

 _'Of course, Anna.'_ He flashed her a charming smile. _'I won't tell her.'_

But now that he saw her there, standing on her own, watching some dignitaries and members of the Royal Council being entertained by her own sister's beautiful voice, Hans couldn't help his curiosity. He had so many questions to ask—aside from the mandatory ones as a part of the courting, mostly about what she knew of her own Kingdom so far. The look of hurt and a somewhat jealousy flashed on her face, briefly. And just like a gasoline, it only added more fuel on the fire.

'Elsa,' He casually greeted.

'It's Princess Elsa to you, Prince Hans.'

Her tone was so cold, sending shiver down his spine. But Hans wouldn't back out. 'Of course, _Your Highness_ , forgive me for being so blunt.'

Clearly, his plan was starting to work, as the blonde princess finally turned to him with an annoyed look. 'If you are here to mock me or wish me a happy birthday, then I'll say thank you. You may go.'

'Oh, yes, happy birthday, Princess Elsa.' He bowed mockingly. 'You look like you can use that greeting some more. It's your birthday, but it looks like you're not enjoying it.'

Elsa turned her attention back to her sister, who was still singing—this time a Christmas Carol. From where he was standing, he noticed the way her blue eyes slowly clouded with emotions. She looked undoubtedly unpleasant, but Hans didn't know with whom she was feeling that way—the council or the sister.

'I don't need you to entertain me, Prince Hans.' She muttered with a hint of irritation. 'And your presence is certainly not wanted here, thank you. In fact, why don't you go and join them? You seem to take an interest in my sister, knowing how much time you have spent with her.'

If Hans didn't know better, the princess standing before him was jealous. He had seen that look before, on his niece, Heather's face, when she learned that her youngest sister, Magnolia would get a brand new doll. And he wondered if the sisters' distant relationship had anything to do with a sibling rivalry.

'I beg your pardon for being straightforward, but is that jealousy that I sense, Your Highness?'

It took him a second to notice the sudden change of temperature, but of course he ignored it, thinking that it was merely the cold wind that seeped in through the window. But no window was opened, wasn't it?

Elsa, with her jaw hardened and fist tightened, turned to him slowly. He icy blue eyes were glaring at his emerald ones, and if looks could kill, the Southern Isles would surely be mourning in the morrow.

'I don't suppose you may freely state your opinion about me, Prince Hans.' She snapped, before turning on her heels. 'Now, excuse me. I'd like to turn in.'

Hans noticed the way she tugged her gloved hands nervously, as he silently followed her towards the door. Was she really sensitive to the touch? Building up his courage, Hans reached out for her hand. Upon his touch, Elsa did flinch, trying to let go. Alas, his grip was too firm, and when she tried to pull her hand away, the glove slipped.

'Give me back my glove!' She quickly said.

But the prince, finally getting ahold of something that seemed to be one of so many problems that she had, decided to put it on use. 'Not until you talk to me.'

'We were talking earlier.' She said, cradling her bare left hand close to her chest.

'I have requested an audience with you ever since I arrived here a week ago, Your Highness, but you always found an excuse to avoid me.' Hans didn't care if any other people in the room heard him. 'All I want is to help your Kingdom back to a prosperity, and to forge an alliance between Arendelle and the Southern Isles. Do you think by pushing me away, shoving your own sister in my way, you could stop me from that?'

She frowned in distaste. 'Yes, because I don't need your help. Good evening, Prince Hans.'

Watching her back turned to him, as she made her way to the exit, Hans couldn't help it any longer. 'Is that true, that you were forced to move into your own room?'

He heard a slight gasp—Anna's gasp—as he asked the question. Some dignitaries began to murmur about how the temperature dropped suddenly, but Hans couldn't care less. He knew it would cost him a credibility, for confronting Arendelle's Crown Princess in front of her own—or her late father's Council. But the past week, during his stay, he couldn't ignore Lord Peterson's odd behaviour nor the weird looks some members of the council threw at him whenever he inquired about the princess. It was as if they knew something he didn't.

Elsa stopped on the track. Her shoulders rose and fell with every heavy breath she took.

'The kicking, the crying.' Hans hated his lack of choices, but to crack the ice, he needed to dig with an axe. 'What did you do, Princess? What did you do so bad they had to—'

'Enough!' Turning abruptly, Elsa swung her bare hand, and spikes of ice shot out from her palm, forming a circular barrier around her.

Hans was speechless, as he witnessed the magic unfolded before him. Ice— _cold and sharp_ —was pointing right at him, and if he were a step closer, he would have been impaled. Looking up in wonder, he was expecting a fearful look on her face, but all he saw was rage. She stood up straight, brows furrowed, before taking a step back. Reaching for the door knob, Elsa send him a cold glare, before fleeing.

'No!'

Hans heard a whimper, and he saw Anna burst in tears. Gerda, a servant which happened to stand by, quickly comforted her. The lack of tension in the room was saying something. Everyone but Anna knew about Elsa's power.

 _Is that why she was forced to hide?_ He wondered. But he wouldn't get any answer if he stayed there. Hans knew he should go after her, as dangerous as it sounded. He was the one who pressed her, so he should be the one who get her back. Perhaps he could convince her. Yes, but it wouldn't be so easy.

At that point, he knew nothing was easy. But Hans needed answers, and she was the source.

* * *

She needed to get away from that place, where to, she didn't know. Having spent almost her entire life locked in her room, Elsa had no clue about her castle's surroundings. She did remember a place, mentioned by a book she read, somewhere in the forest behind the castle. But to get there, she needed to cross the bridge and went through some part of the town. Knowing that she had no other choice, Elsa decided to set her destination.

Along with every step she took, farther away from the castle grounds, the wind picked up. Before she knew it, a storm came approaching. She spotted the town, slowly covered in snow so thick it covered the dirty grounds Hans tried to mention the other day. Murmurs of panic upon the sudden storm were caught by her ears, but the princess refused to stop and check on the people—her people. Deep down, she wondered what her father would think if he could see her then.

The air grew colder, but not once did she flinch, for she was immune to the sensation. Elsa could feel the familiar ache in her chest as she thought about her dearest father. The one who feared her, who forced her to repress her own powers, for they were too big for this world. She raised her still gloved hands in the colour of blue, matching with the evening dress she was wearing. Those things were personalised, for Elsa, made for her and her only.

 _'No, Father!'_ She screamed at the top of her lungs, feeling firm grasps around her arms. _'No, please! I'm so sorry, I won't do it again, I promise!'_

_Tears were streaming down her face, and her throat had gone dry after the constant screaming. Eventually, she let the two guards took her away from her shared room with Anna. She was done kicking, she was done screaming. Once the white wooden door of her new room was slammed shut, she broke into a sobbing mess._

'No!' Elsa quickly shook those thoughts away. It was too painful to reminisce, and she clearly didn't need to be reminded of that now, not after what that Southern Prince said. _How did he find out about it?_

The possible answer to that question would be Anna. _That ungrateful little rascal!_ She spat, as she made her way through the blizzard, her powers and the nature combining. Her vision went red as envy clouded her sight. _As if Anna haven't had enough attention all of her life, now she told the prince_ —to whom she was betrothed— _about that one memory I hate the most._

 _I should have gone for her heart._ She thought for a brief second. _It wasn't my fault that she slipped on the ice_. In fact, Anna was the one that made her parents force her into an isolation. The incident once upon a time, when she accidentally struck Anna's head, giving her a highlight of white hair among her strawberry blonde head, was the day her parents realised the great danger that came with her powers.

Closing her eyes, Elsa took a deep breath, before forcefully yanked the remaining glove. She turned around and let the wind carried the fabric away. For the first time in forever, she felt free. Glancing down at her bare hands, she smiled. No more repressing her powers. Soon, she would rule her own kingdom of isolation, away from everybody. At the edge of the forest, Elsa stopped and looked back at the small town that soon would be buried under a thick layer of snow.

 _Anna could take care of everything_ , or so she thought. After all, if her parents favoured her younger sister more and showered her with love and attention, surely the people would do the same— _had they ever found out._ Sometimes she wondered if there would ever be a chance for her to fit in, to be accepted, instead of being feared by many. Impossible. Even her own parents didn't think so.

 _'We need to contain her powers, Iduna.'_ She was eavesdropping her parents' conversation from behind her door, shortly after their daily visit. _'If not, she will turn into a, a mons—'_

_'Don't finish that, Agnarr! For our daughter's sake.'_

' _But it's true. Iduna, didn't you hear what the trolls said? If she is getting out of hand, she will turn into—'_

 _Elsa didn't want to hear the rest of the conversation, and quickly backed away from the door. For a while she didn't move. The newfound information was enough to stun her._ Do they not love me anymore?

 _A monster_. The word sometimes crossed her mind in a foreign voice at the back of her head. _If they think I'm a monster, I may as well be one._ And with that thought, Elsa had decided that she should seek her freedom, away from her Kingdom. As she was about to continue her journey, she caught a silhouette of a horse and its rider trotting through the storm. Knowing that she was being followed, Elsa quickly picked up her skirt and ran away.

'Princess Elsa!'

Elsa didn't need to turn around to see who he was. Her blood suddenly boiled, as she remembered what happened earlier. Why would he go after her? Shouldn't he be afraid of her? Unless he came to eliminate the monster. Oh no, she needed to get out.

'You can't run from this!'

Picking up her pace, she tried to dodge some branches, as she stumbled into the forest. Alas, the prince broke into a gallop, and in a split second, he halted right before her. The horse neighed, taking Elsa by surprise. Falling onto her back, she landed on the snowy ground.

Dismounting from the light brown coloured stallion, Hans hurried towards her. 'I'm so sorry, are you hurt?'

Elsa eyed him with anger. Her blue gaze then landed on the sword tied to his side.

'No!' She snapped coldly, then quickly got back on her feet, with her hands lifted before her. 'Don't touch me!'

'Your Highness, I need to get you home.'

'Home?' Her eyes narrowed. 'I have no home.'

As she spat those words, a blizzard began to form around them. The stallion took a few steps back, but for some reasons, he didn't leave his master, who stood tall before the princess.

'Elsa!' Hans said, trying to shield his body from the wind.

Shaking her head, Elsa stepped back. 'Stay away!' Ice shot out through her palms, creating spikes, similar to what happened earlier, in which the prince managed to dodge in time.

His green eyes widened in shock, but he quickly recovered. By now, Elsa was expecting him to draw his sword, to lunge at her, to stop the monster. He did keep his guard up, but not a hint of fear even she could sense. Standing there, a few inches from her deadly ice spikes, Hans furrowed his brows.

'Why?'

Like a log in the fireplace, it kept the fire burning. Elsa scoffed, her posture was stiff, once again.

'Why?' She repeated. 'Because I am a monster!'

All these time, Elsa had never said those words out loud, not wanting to admit the fact. But now that she was out in the open, nothing could hold her back.

'You're not.' He stated, taking a step closer.

'You don't understand, Hans!'

'They forced you to hide, didn't they?' One step closer. 'But that was a huge mistake they made.' Another one. 'You want to run away, to leave everything behind, to be free.'

With every step he took, and every word he said, the wind slowed down. And she realised that he was slowly getting into her walls.

'You don't know that.' She murmured, standing on her ground.

Hans stopped for a while, clearly he wasn't expecting an answer. 'You're right, I don't.' He took another step. 'We may be of different upbringing, but I know one thing.'

'What?'

'Running away is not the answer.'

She cackled, finding it ironically funny. 'How do you know if you've never done it?' She had heard enough about the youngest prince of the Southern Isles, about how his family treated him—with love and comfort. Surely, he wasn't familiar with the feeling of not fitting in.

'I love sailing.' His features softened as he replied. 'But no matter however long I've been away, the problems I've left behind will always come back to me whenever I go back to the land.'

But still, he wasn't forced to hide his powers. He had never been locked up. He had never longed for freedom, as much as she. Why would she listen to him?

'You said you're a monster.' Hans said, standing merely a few inches before her. 'By all means,' to her surprise, he caught her wrist and pressed it to his chest, just above his heart, 'do it.'

Elsa was contemplating for a while. _Do it, Elsa, like you did Anna!_ That thought re-appeared in the back of her mind.

'No!' She withdrew her hand, turning to walk away. 'You should go, and so should I.'

'Is it Anna you're jealous of?'

No, it had never been about Anna. It had always been about Elsa and her own issues—her jealousy, her bitterness. The familiar cold sensation began to seep in, as she thought about her dearest sister.

'Is it because they favour her more than they do you?'

It was enough to stun her. Those bitter memories of her watching that sickening smile on Anna's face as she played with Gerda, while Elsa was locked inside her room, flashed before her eyes. That sickening laughter that echoed through the halls. The praises, the kisses, and the hugs she received. Anna always got what she wanted.

'Is it, Elsa?'

'Enough!' She turned abruptly, swinging her arm.

The next thing she knew, the prince let out a gasp, as he clutched his chest. He was on his knees, breathing heavily. Elsa was expecting him to come and attack her, but his emerald gaze that caught her cold blue ones told her that it was never his intention. _Have I gone for his heart?_

'Elsa,' he tried to swallow a whimper.

From afar, they could hear the sound of horses galloping through the storm. Her eyes widened, realising that they might be the guards who came after her.

'Go!' Hans stated.

'There she is!' A guard said.

'Stop her!' The other added. 'Stop the monster!'

 _I am to fade to white_ , she thought as she glanced at her bare hands. _A monster. That's what I am._

Picking up her skirt, Elsa decided to follow the original plan. Without even sending a second glance at the hurting prince, her second victim, she fled. The storm raged on and the wind picked up, once again, accompanying the princess as she journeyed through the forest towards the North Mountain.

And at last, Princess Elsa of Arendelle was free.


End file.
